Saudi Arabian security forces broke up a protest in the city Safwi, al-Qatif.

Eye witnesses announced that the Saudi Arabian government and security forces broke up a protest held in the city of Safwi, in the province of al-Qatif. The protest was over the actions of a security force that attacked Shia pilgrims near the Prophet’s tomb last month – especially disrespecting the women.

After this event there has been unrest in Saudi Arabia and the government has placed many security agents in the provinces of Ahsa’ and Qatif.

The movements of the Saudi Arabian government after the Gaza War, where the Zionist army was defeated, are trying to show that this victory was accomplished by the political efforts of Saudi Arabia and Egypt – enabling the resistance to succeed.

In the last few weeks a few Saudi Arabian officials have travelled to Damascus just as a number of Egyptian have as well. Jordan, by sending an official letter and a political representative, wanted to join forces with them. A few meetings took place chaired by King Abdullah and attended by some Arab heads of state, including the Syrian president. The latest meeting was last Wednesday in Riyadh where King Abdullah, the kind of Saudi Arabia, Hosni Mubarak, the president of Egypt, Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabbah, the prince of Kuwait, and Bashar Asad, the president of Syria attended.

The Saudi king announced in an economical meeting of the heads of Arab states held in Kuwait the day after the Gaza War ended: “Now the time to bury the differences of Arabs has come.” Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister took a step further and said in an interview: “The Kuwait Summit buried the differences of Arabs.” The Syrian president rejected this. Bashar Asad, in an interview with the Emirate newspaper Dar al-Khaleej, said: “We are now trying to make up and we cannot confirm that we do not have any differences with each other.”

Immediately after the meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday, Hosni Mubarak met with King Abdullah of Jordan in Amman. The head of Mubarak’s office stated that it was a continuation of the Riyadh meeting. Amr Moussa, the secretary-general of the League of Arab States, entered Damascus. It has been decided that there will be another meeting of Arab leaders in Qatar in the next few weeks.

This shows the unified activities of Riyadh, Amman, and Cairo around one foundational axis. Everyone knows that the Islamic resistance in the region is the biggest problem for the three Arab states (Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan) and also the biggest problem for the Zionist regime, America, and the west. Since Syria has a strategic relationship with Iran and the resistances in Lebanon and Palestine, it has been given great importance by this group. American and Arab groups have clearly mentioned the possibility of separating Syria from Iran and the resistance and the possibility of establishing two states – Palestine and Israel – in the occupied territories if peace between Syria and Israel is accomplished. The political organization Khawar, close to Washington, announced in the Christian Science Monitor in regards to a conclusion about the political changes in the Middle East that America, through Saudi Arabia, will try its best to put Syria in line with American policies which would necessitate it distancing itself from Iran. This American publication clearly stated that the reason that Israel lost in its war against Palestine was because the Saudi Arabian-Egyptian pole has become weak.

The meetings and talks amongst the four countries (Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Syria) and the multiple travels of political figures to and from these countries must bee looked at with precision. The reason for this is that the resistance in the Middle East depends on the strength of Iran and Syria. Any weakness will have foundational consequences in the Middle East. In order to look into this subject, it must be said that:

1. Syria has been struggling since 1967, when the Golan Heights and Jabal Sheikh were occupied by the Zionist regime. These two places were not only strategic and economical, but they were considered a sign of the existence of the government in Damascus. Now, Syria sees an international opportunity and wants to test what would happen by claiming the loss of Golan and Jabal Sheikh. The victory of the resistance in Gaza and Hizbollah in Lebanon increases the world’s need of Syria in the eyes of Bashar. From another angle, Bashar Asad sees the dead-end that the meetings between Arab and Israeli figures in regards to the two-state solution have reached as another opportunity for Syria. The Syrian government does not give clear answers in regards to the questions about whether or not they are ready to change their relationship with the resistance or not. But, they emphasize that the peace process is not possible without the powers of the region – Hizbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine – participating in it.

2. Saudi Arabia and Egypt are holding talks with Syria in order to weaken Iran and the Arab resistance in the region. They believe that if they tempt Syria with financial benefits and the return of the strategic Golan Heights then the chain of resistance in the region will be broken and the ancient Arab movement called nationalism will replace Islam. They believe that nationalism will be enlivened and honor will be returned to these two countries. Some time ago the president of Egypt in a public address stated: “Iran is stealing the Middle East and we cannot remain silent.” If he was more precise he would have stated that Islam has taken over the Middle East and that he must find a way to take control back. At the same time it must be said that Egypt and Saudi Arabia have an internal fight as well. Egyptians consider themselves the leaders of the Arab world while Saudi Arabia believes that their status has fallen in the last thirty years.

3. Jordan and Kuwait are playing a supportive role in this movement. They are not that important. But, the presence of Kuwait emphasized the principle role of Saudi Arabia and the presence of Jordan emphasizes the principle role of Egypt. King Abdullah of Jordan and Sheikh Ahmad Sabbah of Kuwait state that they benefits of their countries are in this movement. Jordan expects Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to save it from the economical fall that it is facing along with the whole world.

4. Saudi Arabia and Egypt face many problems in these talks. One of the problems is that they want Syria to trade the relationship that it has with the resistance, which is its strongest point of honor, for a promise to give back the Golan Heights. Bashar, even though he is young, knows well that political talks and promises from Arab governments have never given results. Because of this the president of Syria states that there are differences between the contracts of peace and real peace.

5. America, after the 22-Day-War against Gaza emphasized that Israel cannot fight and must improve their conditions through diplomacy. It seems far-fetched that America is hopeful that Syria will weaken their relation with Iran and the resistance. They believe that they can make Syria change a little bit and make them think about their relationship with Iran and with America. They believe that with this the progress of Islam in the Middle East will be thwarted and the possibility of American management over the region will increase. But, this issue is just American brainstorming.

6. Another side of this issue is the Zionist regime. This regime is in a very weak state right now and does not have the ability to discuss the issue of Golan. If they debate this topic, as Bashar says, they are not ready to agree to anything. The Zionist regime believes in its internal strength and if they give back Golan Heights they will loose their existence – just as retreating from Gaza four years ago caused them to loose their security. In these conditions it is highly unlikely that Saudi Arabia could promise anything more than financial benefits to Syria. Because of this the president of Syria stated, knocking down Saudi Arabia and Egypt: “Peace treaties are nothing more than a piece of paper. But the reality is that 500 thousand Palestinians are in Syria. They must return to their homes and Golan must be given back to Syria. Until this happens there will be no changes.”

‘Sectarian’ clashes in the second-most holiest site in Islam can only serve to achieve one forbidding outcome. The sight of bloodshed and hostilities in the near vicinities of this sacred site is tantamount to sacrilege in the hearts and minds of Muslims all across the globe. News of four deaths and several more critically injured in the aftermath of the recent clashes in Medina will have no doubt turned memories back to the 1987 massacre in the holy city of Makka during the annual Hajj. Despite the seemingly subsiding intensity of these clashes however, it is paramount to underline the lingering nature of its outcomes just as was the case following the massacre – which will remain to influence and shape policies vis-à-vis segments of Saudi society, and wider regional relations.

In order to come to terms with the motives for the recent clashes in Medina, it is crucial to highlight the ongoing geopolitical shifts in the wider region. The Middle East today stands at a unique crossroads; its peoples are witnessing the displacement of age-old power structures that have been the symbol of this region for decades. Naturally, the ‘old-guard’ is pitted against the forces of change, with dear life stuck between their teeth. As loyal and attentive students of history will no doubt attest to, power holds an incredible capacity to corrupt. An even more real but no less frightening concomitant of power lies in its longing for eternalness.

The distressing events in Medina over the last few days are not sectarian clashes, yet the principle motive of its agitators is to utilize these events to heighten regional sectarian tensions. Faced with a climate of growing Islamic solidarity and imperialist rejection, these provocateurs are placing their last hopes in heightened sectarianism to secure their loosening-grip on power. The process of awakening amongst the Arab masses throughout the Middle East is alarming the oil-sheikhdoms, and at their helm the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Riyadh and Cairo once stood tall as the nerve centres of the Middle East from where regional agendas, carefully calibrated in line with US imperialist interests, were set. Times have changed. Today, the simmering revolution in Egypt is being restrained thanks only to the firing guns of an ailing Mubarak. Saudi Arabia, which proudly lauded itself as the counter-balance to Iran can no longer maintain a steady footing, and finds itself replaced by a far more pragmatic and conciliatory, Qatar. Arguably, the final nails in the coffins of these historical ‘powerhouses’ have also been hammered down by the growing role that is being played out by a Turkey that is increasingly turning Eastwards.

The House of Saud today faces a distinctive predicament. Over recent decades, the Saudi kingdom has single-handedly pumped millions upon millions of US Dollars to fund the Wahhabi sect of Islam around the world. The Saudi monarchy which came into power on the crest of Wahhabi fanaticism, resolved to export Wahhabi ideology from 1979 with the particular aim of countering the Shia following the success of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Today, the godfathers of the Wahhabi and Salafist groups are haunted by the products of their very own making. Faced on the one hand with the return of their now matured brood, and on the other by a resolutely passionate political agenda on the Arab street strongly against US imperialism in the region, the Saudi monarchy has chosen to kill both birds with the fire of sectarianism.

The impression of a wounded fox with no other weapon in hand except for its most primordial ability to fan the fires of sectarianism is thus the proper context against which these coordinated attacks by the Saudi army aided by the fanatical ‘moral police’ (the Mutawwa’ah) ought to be seen. From Nigeria to Pakistan, Saudi policy is operating with the single goal of obfuscating the ‘awakening’ of the Arab and Muslim populous through providing regional developments with sectarian overtones. Invented terminologies like the ‘Shia tide’ and the ‘Shia crescent’ are used in line with this agenda: an agenda to polarize the unifying Muslim ranks that stand against US imperialism in the Middle East into ‘Sunni’ and ‘Shia’ bastions.

Muslims around the world, especially those who are situated in the Middle East, should be cognizant of these underlying currents. They should not allow themselves to be utilized as instruments through which the waning power of client-states in the heart of the Arab and Muslim world is consolidated. In this regard, the primary onus falls upon Muslim leaders to refrain from pitching these clashes as ‘sectarian wars’.

For the past several weeks, dozens of family members have been reaching out to the Iraqi government in a fragile gesture meant to save the lives of their sons. In January 2009, Saudi courts convicted 25 young Iraqi men of trespassing into Saudi Arabia. Their punishment: beheading. Among the Iraqi prisoners are at least several men suffering from tuberculosis, all of whom are being denied medical attention by the Saudi judiciary.

Relatives of the Iraqi prisoners in Saudi prisons have been holding protests in the southern province of Al-Muthana, withstanding the bitter cold and wind. The response by the Iraqi officials has been ridiculously indifferent, with the buck being passed between the bureaucracies. Human rights officials have announced today that the case should be pursued by National Security Advisor Mowaffak al-Rubaie. However, Rubaie has refused to take any proactive action in this regard. In September 2008, Rubaie had met with the Saudi King and authorized the transfer of 400 Saudi terrorists out of Iraq and back to Saudi Arabia. Any mention of the Iraqi death-row prisoners in Saudi Arabia was not present.

Iraqi politicians are far too engulfed in the elections to even grant a second glance to the young men about to lose their lives for petty crimes. However, these same power holders have no grievance with releasing Saudi terrorists and allowing them to live a normal life, long after they had wrecked that of the Iraqi children. Saudi Arabia has become the shame of the Muslim and Arab world; to think some claim these barbarians represent us is an insult to humanity and Islam.

Saudi Arabia is a state party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Secrecy and the lack of internationally recognized standards of due process have long been distinctive features of the Saudi justice system. None of the Iraqi men had access to any form of legal representation, nor were they offered such an option. This is a recurring theme within the Saudi legal system, and it strips away the most basic of rights for prisoners, both foreign and domestic.

The treatment of detained foreign nationals both in the case of the Iraqi men and other multinationals gives insight into the closed world and fundamental flaws of the Saudi judicial system, including prolonged incommunicado detention, the absence of protection against torture, and other forms of mistreatment during interrogation. In many cases involving foreigners, foreign governments rarely if ever publicly raise fair-trial concerns or engage in other vigorous public advocacy on behalf of their nationals, prior to or even after their executions.

If this was any other nation, there would outrage, but since it is Saudi Arabia, the world has become complacent. The kingdom spends a fortune on US public relations firms to cover up human rights violations. In the year 2000, Amnesty International reported that Saudi Arabia has spent more than one million dollars on public relations firms to ensure secrecy about abuses of human rights. An oil-dependent international community sits back in silence as the suffering continues inside the kingdom.

The death penalty is used in Saudi Arabia more than in any other country, mainly because many crimes are punishable by execution. Defendants are typically poor foreign migrant workers from developing countries in Africa and Asia, often have no defense lawyer, and are usually unable to follow court proceedings in Arabic. For countless prisoners, they had no knowledge of their sentence until the actual day of their execution.

We must act now to save the Iraqi prisoners in Saudi custody. These Iraqi nationals were beaten until they confessed, and all claim that they are innocent. Prisoners in Saudi Arabia can be put to death without a scheduled date for execution being made known to them or their families. Subsequently, these men could be put to death any time.

Here is whom to contact regarding appeals in the cases of the Iraqi prisoners, while also expressing our outrage at the abuse of all prisoners:

In my decades as a public servant, I have strongly promoted the Arab-Israeli peace process. During recent months, I argued that the peace plan proposed by Saudi Arabia could be implemented under an Obama administration if the Israelis and Palestinians both accepted difficult compromises. I told my audiences this was worth the energies of the incoming administration for, as the late Indian diplomat Vijaya Lakshmi Nehru Pandit said: “The more we sweat in peace, the less we bleed in war.”

But after Israel launched its bloody attack on Gaza, these pleas for optimism and co-operation now seem a distant memory. In the past weeks, not only have the Israeli Defence Forces murdered more than 1,000 Palestinians, but they have come close to killing the prospect of peace itself. Unless the new US administration takes forceful steps to prevent any further suffering and slaughter of Palestinians, the peace process, the US-Saudi relationship and the stability of the region are at risk.

Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, told the UN Security Council that if there was no just settlement, “we will turn our backs on you”. King Abdullah spoke for the entire Arab and Muslim world when he said at the Arab summit in Kuwait that although the Arab peace initiative was on the table, it would not remain there for long. Much of the world shares these sentiments and any Arab government that negotiated with the Israelis today would be rightly condemned by its citizens. Two of the four Arab countries that have formal ties to Israel – Qatar and Mauritania – have suspended all relations and Jordan has recalled its ambassador.

America is not innocent in this calamity. Not only has the Bush administration left a sickening legacy in the region – from the death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis to the humiliation and torture at Abu Ghraib – but it has also, through an arrogant attitude about the butchery in Gaza, contributed to the slaughter of innocents. If the US wants to continue playing a leadership role in the Middle East and keep its strategic alliances intact – especially its “special relationship” with Saudi Arabia – it will have to drastically revise its policies vis a vis Israel and Palestine.

The incoming US administration will be inheriting a “basket full of snakes” in the region, but there are things that can be done to help calm them down. First, President Barack Obama must address the disaster in Gaza and its causes. Inevitably, he will condemn Hamas’s firing of rockets at Israel.

When he does that, he should also condemn Israel’s atrocities against the Palestinians and support a UN resolution to that effect; forcefully condemn the Israeli actions that led to this conflict, from settlement building in the West Bank to the blockade of Gaza and the targeted killings and arbitrary arrests of Palestinians; declare America’s intention to work for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, with a security umbrella for countries that sign up and sanctions for those that do not; call for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Shab’ah Farms in Lebanon; encourage Israeli-Syrian negotiations for peace; and support a UN resolution guaranteeing Iraq’s territorial integrity.

Mr Obama should strongly promote the Abdullah peace initiative, which calls on Israel to pursue the course laid out in various international resolutions and laws: to withdraw completely from the lands occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem, returning to the lines of June 4 1967; to accept a mutually agreed just solution to the refugee problem according to the General Assembly resolution 194; and to recognise the independent state of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital. In return, there would be an end to hostilities between Israel and all the Arab countries, and Israel would get full diplomatic and normal relations.

Last week, President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad of Iran wrote a letter to King Abdullah, explicitly recognising Saudi Arabia as the leader of the Arab and Muslim worlds and calling on him to take a more confrontational role over “this obvious atrocity and killing of your own children” in Gaza. The communiqué is significant because the de facto recognition of the kingdom’s primacy from one of its most ardent foes reveals the extent that the war has united an entire region, both Shia and Sunni. Further, Mr Ahmadi-Nejad’s call for Saudi Arabia to lead a jihad against Israel would, if pursued, create unprecedented chaos and bloodshed in the region.

So far, the kingdom has resisted these calls, but every day this restraint becomes more difficult to maintain. When Israel deliberately kills Palestinians, appropriates their lands, destroys their homes, uproots their farms and imposes an inhuman blockade on them; and as the world laments once again the suffering of the Palestinians, people of conscience from every corner of the world are clamouring for action. Eventually, the kingdom will not be able to prevent its citizens from joining the worldwide revolt against Israel. Today, every Saudi is a Gazan, and we remember well the words of our late King Faisal: “I hope you will forgive my outpouring of emotions, but when I think that our Holy Mosque in Jerusalem is being invaded and desecrated, I ask God that if I am unable to undertake Holy Jihad, then I should not live a moment more.”

Let us all pray that Mr Obama possesses the foresight, fairness, and resolve to rein in the murderous Israeli regime and open a new chapter in this most intractable of conflicts.

A Saudi official, who wished to remain anonymous, said Saudi King Abdullah and President Shimon Pres of Israel met during the Interfaith Conference in New York. Tzipi Livni, Israel’s foreign minister, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Saud al-Feisal, Saudi foreign minister, were also present at the meeting. Among the topics discussed was mutual cooperation and coordination in regard to the new Arab-Israeli peace plan. Despite the Israeli view, the meeting remained secret and undisclosed to the public and the media at the request of the Saudi officials. The peace plan discussed in this meeting is to be proposed publically upon the start of Obama’s presidency whose close ties to Israel is to be used as leverage to overcome the different obstacles in the Middle East conflict.

Both sides agreed that confronting Iran would not be possible without the success of this proposal. The anonymous official revealed that during the meeting Saudis agreed to remove two articles from the proposed plan: the issue of Jerusalem and the Palestinians’ right to return.

The meeting was arranged by Prince Bandar bin Sultan, the high-ranking Saudi security official, and Adel al-Jabeer, Saudi ambassador to the US. Interesting to note, all travel and hotel expenses for the 20 Israeli officials were paid by the Saudis.

Why does Israel continue to build settlements on the west bank and continue its expansionist policies? The ultimate goal is to capture all of ‘Eretz Israel’. The ‘Promised Land’ extends from the River of Egypt to the Euphrates. It includes parts of Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, a bit of Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Yasser Arafat always used to keep an Israeli coin in his pocket showing Israel with the ‘Eretz Israel’ borders, to remind people that they shouldn’t be fooled by the Zionists, as they have no defined borders and continue to expand their land.

If one looks with precision into the life of the Prophet of Islam (s) they will see that love and unity played extremely important roles in his message and in the spread of the Islam.

Allah introduced the Noble Prophet (s) as the Prophet of Mercy and Prophet Muhammad’s (s) life is full of live for Allah and His servants.

The author of this article tries to point to the heights of this unity and this mercy. The article is as follows:

The Prophet’s (s) entrance into Medina was coupled by the pacts made with various groups. These pacts can be considered as the clearest pieces of evidence of Islamic love and unity in the society and that time.

The general pact with the people of Medina is one of the most important pacts. It was the first pact that was made between the Prophet of Islam (s) and the tribes that existed in Yathrib at that time. Some of what is written on it is the first written fundamental laws of the world.

This was the best opportunity to bring about religious unity because unity amongst the fighting tribes would ensure the social rights of the Jews and the Muslim immigrants as well. From another angel, these pacts were the prelude to the establishment of a unified political theme and government.

America’s goal was to seek revenge from Hizbollah for its victory in the 33-Day-War and establishing a government completely dependent on it in Lebanon. But, this scenario was destroyed with the strategical error of Fuad Siniora’s cabinet deciding to take away Hizbollah’s telecommunication capabilities.

About six months ago, David Walsh, an undersecretary for the Department of State, in a travel to Saudi Arabia talked about a hot and difficult summer for Lebanon. Soon after these remarks American politicians and military started changing their actions in the region. Washington, with the excuse of strengthening the Lebanese military and helping the government in Beirut, armed the 14th of March Political Party and prepared them for a hot and difficult summer with many weapons. A few months ago over 3000 armed personnel were ready to play their role carrying out American orders. In this framework, George Bush labeled Hizbollah a terrorist organization and his readiness to destroy it. The general that was the head in Afghanistan and Iraq was deployed to Beirut to announce the readiness of the paramilitary wing of the 14th of March Political Party for this hot and difficult summer. The last link to this scenario was the deployment of the American Battleship Cole to the Mediterranean and its entrance to the Lebanese shore.

Everything was ready for Walsh’s hot summer until America, with the excuse of a Lebanese civil war and the effects of it in the region and well as world peace and with a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for the direct presence of its military in Lebanon.

Samir Quntar was a Lebanese prison held for one of the longest terms and was freed in the prisoner exchange between Hizbollah and the Zionist regime. He said: “I will continue to resist until the occupied territories are completely freed and Israel is destroyed.”

The Saudi Arabian newspaper ‘Akaz narrated that Samir Quntar spent 30 years of his youth in Israeli prisons and wants to return to the occupied territories saying that these lands can only be freed through resistance.

Quntar said that the years he spent in prison were very difficult but also very special. He said that he could not describe the tortures and being away from his hometown in only a ten minute span though.